Reigning Queens of Igor Gorgonzola NOVARA top the chart again in Pool C

This evening it was time to face again after December 7th for Dukla LIBEREC and Igor Gorgonzola NOVARA.

The 2019 CEV Champions League winner defeated the opponents dominating all three sets. The top scorer and MVP of the previous match were from Igor Gorgonzola Novara’s side, Rosamaria Montibeller and Britt Herbots. So far, the two teams were the first and the last ones in the Pool C ranking, and tonight they confirmed their positions in the classification.

The first set started in a great advantage for Igor Gorgonzola NOVARA, with Karakurt immediately warming up and encouraging Hancock to serve her best balls. Rosamaria was left on the bench initially, but she was a protagonist from the second set.

The first minutes showed some matters in reception for Igor Gorgonzola, with the middle blockers of LIBEREC doing a great job in defense.
Sotovska equalized the score (2-2), but then the Italian team started to react, but unfortunately, early in the match, she injured her ankle after a block attempt.

A monster block by Karakurt and Washington swiped up the opponents (6-4), but then Novara took the lead of the match (9-5), a play by Bosetti caused a big rally and then Washington finished with a fast, reaching the double-digit (10-5) and forcing Dukla LIBEREC'S coach Galik to call for a time out.

The game proceeded in fashion for Igor, with a great spike by Karakurt from the backline and coach Galik calling for the second time out of the set (15-6).
Hancok revealed herself to be excellent as usual, scoring with an ace (17-8), setting a spike for Chirichella (19-9) and finally, Vk Dukla LIBEREC reached the double digits (19-10). Cristina Chirichella denied the penultimate point to the opponents, and then the set closed 25-12

The second set was more balanced, with a video challenge in the first few minutes that Igor won. Lucia Imperiali made her debut in CEV Champions League, and at 12-11, Rosamaria entered the court, substituting Karakurt, scoring her first point after a few minutes (15-12).

The two teams were again head-to-head (17-16), Chirichella was powerfully blocked by the Kpapilova, one of the best players and best blocker of the match. The Czech team played a lot on blocks; that are their specialities.Rosamaria scored a crucial point (19-17), then an ace by Washington sealed another point for Novara.

Lavarini was forced to call the first time out at 21-20. VK Dukla LIBEREC seems to be near to close the set, as Skrypak scored 23-22.
But then, Igor Gorgonzola found the rhythm again and closed the match 25-23.

Also, the third set saw Igor Gorgonzola dominating the Czech team from the beginning and displayed a challenge at 5-1.

Suddenly, Washington dominated over Kolarova, demonstrating that Dukla LIBEREC's libero was not at her best possibility during this match.
Battistoni entered the court, substituting Bosetti, following Lavarini's decision to shuffle the cards.
The set also displayed Karakurt and Rosamaria's opposites together on the court on Novara's side, giving life to an unprecedented show.
Veronica Costantini entered the court and suddenly showed excellent skills in attack (13-6).

Herbots brought her team at 16-8, Novara escaped the opponents (21-12). Two consecutive aces by Heborts were essential to get the match to a conclusion, and after a challenge, Karakurt obtained the point (24-12), and eventually closed the game at 25-12 after a mistake in serving by Herbots.

Nikola Kvapilova (Dukla Liberec's diagonal spiker) was the game's best scorer. She performed a fantastic 2nd set, scoring 7 points and leading her team closer to the set victory.

Cristina Chirichella (Igor Gorgonzola Novara's captain) was awarded MVP of the game. She was the best attacker of the game, with 73% efficiency in attack.